P2 Pronunciation of vowel i in Romanian
The pronunciation of the vowel I in Romanian deserves special attention.
Even though Romanian is a phonetic language (by looking at a word you know how it should be pronounced), the vowel i is pronounced differently depending on:
- its position in a word
- the vowels before or after
- the group of consonants before
1. Normal pronunciation of vowel i pronounced as a plain i, phonetic transcription: /i/
Under normal circumstances (all cases except for the ones below) the vowel i is pronounced as in the table below as a well articulated i.
Vowel I
| How to pronounce the Romanian vowel i | |
| Position of the lips: | |
| Position of the tongue: | |
| Phonetic Transcription: | /i/ (see below for the other possibilities: /j/ or /ʲ/) |
| English equivalent sound : | free |
1. Romanian words containing vowel "i" pronounced as a plain "i", phonetic transcription: /i/
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
island | insulă | ||
indirect | indirect | ||
harmless | inofensiv | ||
comedian | comic |
2. "I" at the end of a word pronounced as a very short, phonetic transcription /ʲ/
In most cases i at the end of a word is pronounced as a short, silent i together with the previous vowel or consonant. This type of i is barely heard. Nevertheless it is very important to pronounce it (silently) as without this "barely pronounced vowel i" the meaning of the Romanian word can change.
The final i is usually the plural marker, or the marker of the second person verbs singular and plural conjugations. Without the final i you can get (sometimes, not all the times) the singular of that word, or the same verb conjugated at a different person.
Therefore the final i, even though it's a mild i, barely heard i, is nevertheless there.
Romanian words containing vowel "i" at the end of a word pronounced as a short /ʲ/
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
shoes | pantofi | ||
actors | actori | ||
you see (where "you" refers to one person) | tu vezi | ||
you go (where "you" refers to one person) | tu mergi |
Just to picture the difference that the final short "i" pronounced as /ʲ/ makes, please listen to these two forms of the verb "to go", "a merge", where the difference in the verb form is given only by the final "i":
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
I go | eu merg | ||
you go (where "you" refers to one person) | tu mergi |
In Romanian it happens frequently that the subject "eu" or "tu" is left out, therefore whenever you would hear "merg", or "mergi" it is important to know whether there was a final silent "i" or not.
The two words below: actor (actor) and actors (actori) are also meant to help you practice your Romanian listening skills by recognizing the words with a silent / reduced "i" at the end or the ones without an "i" at the end.
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
actor | actor | ||
actors | actori |
3. Exceptions of "i" at the end of a word, where "i" is pronounced as /i/
As explained under point 2 above, in most cases "i" at the end of a word is pronounced as a short "i" which is marked in phonetics as /ʲ/. However there are certain exceptions from this rule when a final "i" in Romanian is pronounced as a "full i" as in point 1, marked in phonetics with /i/.
These are only a few and quite rare exceptions where the final "i" is preceded by the combination of these consonants: "fl","bl","tr","cl","cr","dr".
3.1 Exceptions of Romanian words containing vowel I at the end of a word, pronounced plainly /i/
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
| you find out or you get to know or you learn or you hear | tu afli | ||
centimeters | centimetri | ||
| blue referring to plural masculine nouns | albaștri |
Another category of exceptions are the monosyllabic (short words) words ending in "i". The most obvious example is the word "și" (and) where you can hear a clear "i" at the end of the word.
The last exception are the Romanian infinitive verbs ending in "i": "a citi, a vorbi, a iubi, a auzi, a stropi". The stress of all these verbs is on the last syllable, thus on the last "i" that gets to be pronounced as a plain "i".
3.2 Exception I at the end of a word pronounced as plain i: infinitive forms
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
to hear | a auzi | ||
to talk | a vorbi | ||
to read | a citi |
4. "ci" pronounced as /ʧi/ and "gi" pronounced as /ʤi/
The two letters in "ci" are pronounced integrated and together as /ʧi/. Similarly, "gi" is pronounced as /ʤi/. It is important to note that "c" and "g" are "softened" by the "i", because without the "i" that follows, let's say "c" followed by "a" leads to the normally expected /ka/ pronunciation where one can clearly identify one sound independent of the other.
| English | Romanian translation |
Audio | Phonetic Transcription |
|---|---|---|---|
Who | Cine | ||
cyclone | ciclon | ||
5 five | cinci | ||
| Ciprian - a Romanian first name | Ciprian | ||
Gigi a Romanian first name | Gigi | ||
you go (where "you" refers to one person) | tu mergi |
Another complicated case in the Romanian pronunciation is the double "ii". In the next lesson, you will hear the Romanian combined vowels pronunciation including the double "ii".
3 comments
Stressed i at end of words
You omit, as an exception, the verb infinitives ending in -i (a ghici etc).
To be pedantic -fli is according to formal Romanian grammar books, and amongst speakers, ambiguous. So you can pronounce it as -flee or -fl(i)!
Ending of Romanian verbs, infinitive tense - pronunciation
Hi Iulian,
You are right, I will add it in the lesson, I believe I already have some recordings.
Happy to help
Romanian infinitive verbs ending "i" pronunciation
Hi Iulian,
I've just added a few samples of infinitive forms ending in "i".
Thank you one more time for helping me improve this lesson.
Happy to help
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